Spring clip for display racks



April 3, 1951 F. F. MELVIN ETAL 2,547,531

SPRING CLIP FOR DISPLAY RACKS Filed March 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l ll 1! d8 /l8 O 1 19 q HHIH llll INVENTORS) Fmwcls F MELVIN AND JOE 0. ST VENS, 15v M13! flTTORNl-I). I

p 3, 1951 F. F. MELVIN ET AL 2,547,531

SPRING CLIP FOR DISPLAY RACKS Filed March 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ffi Q L ID \k 1 'INvENTORs, FRANCIS MELVIN AND Jot: O. STEVENS, JB MQ mm HTTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED s'rAr 2,5 il53i r FFHCE SPRING CLIP FOR DESPLAY RACKS Francis F. Melvin and Joe 0. Stevens, Elwood, Ind; saidStevens assignor to said Melvin Application March 16, 1948, Serial No. 15,097

This invention relates to a display holder or rack intended primaril to hold individually ma= terials that are carried or packaged in bags. A primary object of the invention is to provide a structure wherein each package or bag may be individually and removably supported upon a display rack so that the removal of one bag will not interfere with the supporting of the other bag onthe holder. A still further important object of the invention is to'provide means for individually holding and retaining bags on the holderand at the same time permit quick and easy replacement of the bags.

Other important objects and advantages of the invention including the extreme simplicity of the structure. and'the relatively low cost of production, will be apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the ac-' companying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation; Fig. 2, a view in side elevation; Fig. 3, a View in top plan; Fig. 4, a detail on an enlarged scale of an individual bag retainer as attached to a supporting element;

"Fig. 5, a view in vertical section on the line -5 in Fig. l; and

Fig. 6, a view in perspective of an individual retaining unit.

acters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views, we form a base out of any suitable material and in any suitable shape, herein shown as consisting of the rectangularly formed wire member IE9. Then there is formed an elongated, generally U-shaped member ll out of any suitable stock, herein shown'as out of flat bar stock, to have out-turned feet I2 and I3. These" feet [2 and ii are respectively secured to side members I4 and E5 of the base member it preferably across the top sides of the center portions thereof, Fig. 3.

Along each of the vertical legs 56 and ll of the member i! are frictionally retained 'a'pluralit'y of retaining units E8. in the form herein-shown,

for illustration purposesonly, there are [3 of these units is carried on each of the legs i6 and I1, Fig. 2.

A description of one of these retaining units [8 will be sufficient for all of suchunits, since they are all identical one with the other. The unit is made preferably out of spring steel to have a plate l9 generally planar with the exception of deformed areas 29 which are provided as means for stiffening the plate!!! at zoneswhere otherwise it would tend to bend-it being the desire that the plate -de-not bend through such zones.-

4 Claims. (Cl. 24-81) In the form herein shown, these depressed zones.

consist of a circular area from which there extends a generally triangular area downwardly therefrom, these areas being designated specifically by the numbers 2i and 22, Fig. 1. From the lower end of the plate 19, that is the relative lower end as viewed in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, themetal is bent around in the form of a loop 23 to carry.

the metal around and back against the rear face of the plate l9 by a portion 24,.this portion 24 normally being substantially in contact throughout the area thereof with the face of the plate 19. This portion is extends upwardly along the back face of the plate is) to substantially its midpoint, andthen the metal is carried rearwardly by a substantially 90 degree bend 25 to form a rear-' wardly extending leg 26. The material is carried on from this leg 26 through a bond 2'! upwardly by a length 28, and then through a bend 29 around forwardly by a terminating leg 30 which is directed toward the rear side of the plate [9,

but terminates by an edge portion 3! in spaced relation therefrom.

The members 26 and 3d are respectively provided with slots 32'and 33 therethrough, the slots being proportioned to have the shape and general contour of a cross section through the legs m or ii, but the areas of these slots exceedin Referring to the drawings, in which like charthe cross sectional area of the legs in each in' stance. As best indicated in Fig. 5, the members 25 and 39 diverge one from the other from the respective bends 2i and 29, that is they are. non-parallel and the edge 3! is further removed from the member 28 than are the respective members as they leave those bends.

Prior to the fixing of the feet l2 and I3 to the members it and [5 of the base I0, a desired number of these units it are threaded upwardly along each of the legs i6 and [1. This threading is accomplished by relatively inserting the leg I it or ii as the case may be through the respective slots 33 and 32 if the loop 22 is to be disposed downwardly, or through the slot 32 and then the slot 33 if the unit is to have its loop 23 disposed upwardly, these positions being optional depending upon the goods to be displayed and how they are to be gripped. The threading operation is accomplished by pushing the edge 3! of the member 30 downwardly toward the mem ber 26 so as to bring the member 29 into substantially parallelism with the member 26 whereupon the legs 56 or l'i may be easily inserted through the respective slots. Then upon releasing the edge 35 of the member 313, the member 3E! tends to spring away from the member 25 to cause the edges of the respective slots to bite into or yieldingly grip the front and rear sides respectively of the particular leg. In this position,

tions 35 inserted under the loop 23, between it This is permitted and the face of the leg ll. by pushing the upper end of the plate 19 toward the face of the leg ll, as suggested by the d'a'shlines Fig. 5, which action will cause the plate 9 to relatively pivot through the member 26 to in turn kick loop 23 forwardly from the leg ll and thus give space for the insertion therebetween of this part 35 of the bag 3%. This action may be repeated for each of the units it carried by the legs l6 and H.

As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the uppermost units l8 may be reversed in position if desired, by having the free end of the plate :9 turned downwardly and the loop 23 at the upper portion. This is particularly usable to hold display cards, or to hold other packages which are more rigid in nature than a loosely filled bag 35'. While the frame ll may be made out of any suitable material such as round stock, the fiat form herein shown is particularly desirable Where it is intended that the unit l8 be rigidly held against rotation around the leg 46 and (2'. Removal of each bag 34 is easily had by simply pressing the upper or outer free end of the plate l9 toward the respective leg It or I? to free the grip of the loop 23 against the bag. It is ob- Vious that no welding operations or the like are required to position the units l8 along the leg It and i? since each unit It will maintain its respective, predetermined position therealong. Moreover each unit if; is absolutely independent of the next adjacent or any other unit It along either of the legs.

Therefore, while we have described the invention in more or less minute detail in the form as shown by the accompanying drawings, it is obvious that mechanical changes may be employed Without departing from the spirit of the invention, and we therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claims.

We claim:

- 1. For a display rack having a clip supporting bar, a retaining clip unit to be adjustably positioned along the bar, said unit comprising a continuous length of spring metal formed to have a front plate length, from one end of which plate length the metal extends around rearwardly and up back and forwardly toward the rear side of said plate length to have a bend at approximately the longitudinal central zone of the plate length; a leg extending rearwardly and integrally from said bend at approximately ninety degrees to said plate length; said leg having a hole therein shaped to have a marginal contour similar to that of said bar, but'exceeding in cross-sectional area that of said bar; a length extending upwardly from the rear end of the leg; and a second leg which is extended forwardly from the upper end of said last length, said last leg having a hole therethrough of substantially the same contour and area as that in said first leg; said legs diverging one from the other from saidintervening length; and said 4 last leg terminating by its forward end in spaced relation from said plate length; said bar to be received through said leg holes by forcing said legs into approximate parallelism, said unit being held in position on the bar by releasing the legs to permit the margins of said leg holes to grip the bar, to have said end of said plate length urged yieldingly toward said bar; and said plate having a free end portion; whereby pressure on said plate free end portion will rock the plate length over said bend to rock said one end away from said bar for insertion of display matter between it and said bar.

2. A clamping device for a display rack having a vertical bar comprising a generally 0- shaped spring member having opposed upper and lower legs, each of said legs having an opening therethrough capable of receiving said bar with a sliding fit between front and rear edges thereof; a depending foot fixed to the outer end of said lower leg at substantially a right angle to extend downwardly to bear against said bar; a lever fixed to the lower end of the foot and extending upwardly along said foot; said lever being of greater length than said foot; the ac-.

tion of said spring member tending to urge the legs apart and thus grasp the bar between the front and rear edges of said openings and also to force the lower end of said lever against the bar.

3. A clamping device to be shiftably engageable along a bar, comprising a generally 0- shaped spring member having opposed, spaced apart legs normally tending to diverge one from the other, each leg being provided with an opening to receive said bar therethrough; one of said legs having an outer bend spaced outwardly from its said opening, from which bend a portion of the leg extends oppositely away from the other leg for a distance along said bar and to abut the bar by an end zone spaced fromsaid bend; and a lever fixed to said leg portion to extend at least beyond said bend in a direction toward but spaced forwardly from the outer end of said other leg.

4. A clamping device to be s'hiftably engageable along a bar, comprising a generally .0- shaped spring member having opposed, spaced apart legs normally tending to diverge one from the other, each leg being provided with an opening to receive said bar therethrough; one of said legs having an outer bend spaced outwardly from its said opening, from which bend a portion of the leg extends oppositely away from the other leg for a distance along said bar and to abut the bar by an end zone spaced from said bend; and a lever fixed to said leg portion to extend at least beyond said bend in a direction toward but spaced forwardly from the outer end of said other leg; said lever being an integral part of said leg portion, extending from said zone back over the outer face of said portion.

FRANCIS F. MELVIN. JOE O. STEVENS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

